While I enjoy a good yarn as much as the next guy, the logic doesn't follow.<p>GDP per capita is simply total GDP divided by the population. GDP is made up of Consumption, Investment, Government Spending, and Net Exports. A large porportion of any of those factors can increase GDP.<p>Government Spending in France, a component of GDP, was 53% in 2001 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_France#Rise_and_decline_of_dirigisme" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_France#Rise_and_decl...</a>). Without doing a deeper online search, it might even be higher today.<p>Government Spending should not be seen as a good long-term item to focus on to increase GDP. If their metric of "Productivity" is based largely on Govt. Spending, which it is, then that's not sustainable in the long-term, and will change drastically in the future.